Closure to affect more than 30 jobs; drought that led to Plainview plant closure listed as same cause.

Cargill Cattle Feeders will permanently close its Lockney facility, plant administrators announced this week.

The feedlot will wrap up operations sometime this summer, but a specific date has not yet been named.

“The exact timing hasn’t been determined — it will depend on some things in the market,” said Pat O’Connell, its general manager.

The feedlot employs about 45 people. Those workers will be offered positions at other Cargill facilities in the region, according to Mike Martin, Cargill’s communications director.

The feetlot is closing for the same reason Cargill’s larger Plainview plant closed in February — drought.

“This is an unfortunate development leading to a decision we would have preferred not to have to make,” Martin said. “However, we cannot control the weather that has created the drought conditions.”

The cattle industry was hindered because a lack of rainfall means a shortage of grass for grazing and feeding material made from rain-dependent crops such as corn and sorghum.

“It’s an expensive endeavor,” said Justin Jaworski, director of economic development for the neighboring town of Floydada. “Unfortunately, we don’t see any foreseeable change in the cattle industry in the near future.”

Jaworski said the Plainview plant’s closure had raised suspicions that Lockney’s feedlot could be next. Although devastating, the announcement was not a complete surprise, he said.

“The plant in Plainview was out of cattle,” he said. “Now that the processing plant is closed, there’s not really any need for a feedlot.”

The to-be-displaced workers comprise a significant part of the workforce in Lockney, a town of just more than 2,000 people. Many of them commute from Floydada, Jaworski said, which could also suffer economic setbacks if the unemployed workers relocate.

“Employees from both communities are being hit by it,” he said. “The loss of (these) jobs is extremely negative for us.”

The feedlot has a capacity for 62,000 head of cattle. It was purchased in 1985 and primarily supplied the Plainview facility.

Martin said the facility will be placed for sale after its operations cease. Cargill’s beef-processing plant in Friona will remain open, he added, as will their feedlots in Bovina and Dalhart.